Steve Jobs Takes Medical Leave: What Now for Apple?

Apple icon and CEO Steve Jobs, previously having fought pancreatic
cancer, is taking a medical leave of absence. The news came early
Monday morning, Jobs announcing
in an email to employees that he "will continue as CEO and be involved
in major strategic decisions." What's going on here, and what does it
mean for Apple? Already, industry observers are scrambling to figure it
out.

Stock Plunge, Here We Come "Fasten your seatbelts," says Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt
upon hearing the news. "It's going to be a bumpy ride on Wall Street
this morning." Twitter users watching the stocks bear out the
prediction. Looking at CNBC numbers, for example, Matthew Keys tweets that Apple shares dropped "6% in Germany following news of Jobs' leave of absence," while "pre-market trading" on this side of the ocean saw downward movement as well. Bloomberg's Matthew Campbell also reports share fall in Germany, though a somewhat lesser figure.

While
it’s unclear what the reason is for the medical leave, Jobs' previous
medical history includes Pancreatic cancer as well as a liver
transplant. In 2004, Jobs contracted Pancreatic Cancer, which he beat.
Then Jobs underwent a liver transplant
in 2009, and also made a full recovery. ... Clearly Jobs is a
survivor; and has fought hard against his medical battles. It's safe to
assume that he’s going to conquer this one as well.

Maybe
More Info to Come? "Apple is slated to give its quarterly earnings
report tomorrow, and perhaps more details will be forthcoming at that
time," speculates Audrey Watters at ReadWriteWeb.

Or Maybe Not Also noting the possibility of more information at the earnings report, Business Insider's Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry and Dan Frommer comment, "we don't anticipate Apple to elaborate, as it has not been forthcoming with Jobs' health details in the past."

iPad and iPhone Remain Unaffected "Important," writes Business Insider's Dan Frommer:
"This should not affect Apple's major releases that are expected this
year, such as second iPad and the latest iPhone ... As these products
have been in development for at least a year, probably much longer ...
most of the big-picture stuff has long been decided." He adds that
"Apple's other executives don't have the same flair or salesmanship as
Jobs, but marketing boss Phil Schiller--who led Apple's last Macworld
keynote when Jobs was out in 2009--should do just fine." It's
"possible," he concedes, that "less-important products could be
delayed."